Description
This object lesson teaches about fear and how to deal with it.

Audience
Children, youth, adults

Materials
o F.E.A.R. Acronym Cards (You can find these on the Lesson and Material Downloads page at http://www.teachthem.wordpress.com in the file named F-E-A-R – Acronym Cards.ppt)
o Flipchart or whiteboard (or you could project the Scriptures with an LCD projector)
o Marker

Preparation
o Print the F.E.A.R. Acronym Cards, and arrange them face-up on a table.
o Write the “fear” Scriptures on a flipchart or whiteboard, and cover them until you need them.
o Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
o The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
o I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)
o He (the man who fears the Lord) will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. (Psalm 112:7)
o Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. (Proverbs 29:25)
o So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
o Practice the script.

Procedure
Use the following script and instructions (or modify to suit your needs):
• “When was the last time you did something really scary? The kind of scary that knots your stomach and weakens your knees? The kind of scary that makes you feel like everything is out of control?” (Take responses.)
• “Fear is an interesting emotion.”
• “It protects us from doing the really dumb stuff that would win us a Darwin Award (a pretend award given out to people who do dumb, life-threatening things).”
• “But it also keeps us from taking important risks and doing what we know we should.”
• “I’ve come to think of fear as an acronym.”
• “Which acronym you use says a lot about how you approach scary things.”
• “I need four volunteers for this lesson.” (Select volunteers, and have them come up front.)
• “On the table, there are 52 different words that all start with the letters ‘F,’ ‘E,’ ‘A,’ or ‘R.’”
• “Most of the words will fit into an acronym that will tell us what some people thing about fear.”
• “I would like for you to represent words that begin with the letter ‘F.’” (Appoint one of the volunteers to always choose a word beginning with ‘F.’)
• “I would like for you to represent words that begin with the letter ‘E.’” Appoint one of the volunteers to always choose a word beginning with ‘E.’)
• “I would like for you to represent words that begin with the letter ‘A.’” Appoint one of the volunteers to always choose a word beginning with ‘A.’)
• “I would like for you to represent words that begin with the letter ‘R.’” Appoint one of the volunteers to always choose a word beginning with ‘R.’)
• “As a group, select four words that fit together to make an acronym for the word fear.”
• “You can only use each word once.”
• “Let’s do the first few together. Find the words, ‘Forget Everything And Run,’ and come show them to us.” (Wait for them to find these words and then show them to the audience.)
• “Some people think F.E.A.R. means that they should Forget Everything And Run, but this isn’t very helpful. It doesn’t solve your problem.”
• “Let’s try another one. Find the words, “Forget Everything and Relax.” (Wait for them to find these.)
• “This isn’t anymore helpful. Your F.E.A.R.s might actually happen, and you won’t be ready for them.”
• “Now find these words, ‘Failure Expected and Received.’” (Wait for them to find these.)
• “You get what you expect. If you expect to fail, you probably will. This is not the best approach to fear.”
• “One more together – find ‘Finding excuses and Reasons.’” (Wait for them to find these.)
• “Often people use F.E.A.R. to find excuses and reasons for not doing what they should be doing.”
• “Now, you try it on your own.” (Allow them a few minutes to select their first acronym. Then have them show the audience. If the acronym makes sense, ask the audience the following question. If it doesn’t, challenge your volunteers to try again.)
• “What do you think this acronym says about people who approach fear in this way?” (Allow the volunteers to make five or six different acronyms, and ask the audience about what it says about the people who approach fear in that way. Then, dismiss your volunteers.)
• “Once, when General George Patton was praised for his bravery in battle, he said, ‘Sir, I am not a brave man — the truth is, I am an utter craven coward. I have never been within the sound of gunshot or in sight of battle in my whole life that I wasn’t so scared that I had sweat in the palms of my hands, but I have learned early in my life never to take counsel of my fears.’”
• “Fear is a normal feeling at times, but we shouldn’t allow it to control us.”
• “We should find ways of dealing with our fear so that it doesn’t prevent us from accomplishing God’s purposes in our lives.”
• “One great way to deal with fear is to memorize Scriptures about it.”
• “I’ve written some on the board.”
• “Read through them, and then pick a few that you want to memorize this week.”
• (Some of the acronyms you can make from the words in the card file are:
o False Expectations Appearing Real
o False Evidence Appearing Real
o For Everything A Reason
o Face Everything And Recover
o Faith Erases All Reservations
o Forgetting Everything’s All Right
o Focus Energy And Respond)